Malaysia signs deal with US firm Ocean Infinity to resume research for MH370

Prisca Bigot | STR | Reuters

French gendarmes and police inspect a large piece of plane debris which was found on the beach in Saint-Andre, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, July 29, 2015. French prosecutor announced on Thursday that we can say with certainty that the wing part found on Saint-Andre beach was from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which vanished from radar screens in March 2014, will begin anew this month, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported Wednesday.

The resumption comes after Malaysian authorities took up an offer by U.S. exploration firm Ocean Infinity to continue looking for the plane, the report said.

The company, in a statement, said the search is estimated to last 90 days and it will receive payment only if the aircraft wreckage is found.

“Ocean Infinity’s search will focus initially on the zone identified by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau,” the company said.

The missing plane, a Boeing 777, was carrying 239 people en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur when it disappeared from radar screens. Search operations concentrated in the southern Indian Ocean, but the aircraft was not found.

Three confirmed fragments of MH370 have been found on the western shores of the Indian Ocean, The Star said. But the initial deep-sea search — jointly conducted by Australia, China and Malaysia — was called off in January 2017.

Read the full report from The Star.